Chapter 605

“The traitor is coming! Spread out! Spread out!”

“Keep firing! We must waste her sorcery!”

The leading cavalry unit, which had been approaching as a single mass, began to split apart, creating gaps between the horses. It was as if a giant with hundreds of fingers had opened its fist, revealing a loose net of empty space.

A formation to minimize shooting damage. The difference was that what was flying towards them wasn’t arrows but flames. Still, the effect was undeniable.

By widening the distance between the cavalry, it would be easier for them to dodge the flames I was spewing, and even if they were caught in the fire, the loss of troops could be minimized.

“Faster! If we get close, her sorcery is nothing!”

The man at the front, presumably a Paladin, shouted as he fired arrows from a powerful bow towards me.

Well, he’s not wrong. For a normal magician, that would be true.

Unlike me, who can cast spells just by uttering the incantation, ordinary magicians have to calculate all sorts of magical formulas in their heads. If their focus wavers even slightly, they lose control of their mana.

Spreading out to minimize damage, continuously attacking from a distance to deplete mana, and engaging in close combat to disrupt spellcasting. It was a textbook response.

At this rate, spewing flames won’t mean much. I need to close the distance.

I swung Durandal from atop my horse, deflecting arrows aimed at my vitals. The rest were blocked by my armor.

The arrows, likely from the same type of powerful bow as mine, caused loud noises and shook my body each time they hit my armor… but it wasn’t enough to knock me off.

[Or-han… is in the center of the formation? Unexpected. I thought he’d be at the front.]

‘Good for me.’

If he had been at the front, I would’ve been tied down dealing with him and unable to do anything else. Thanks to this, I’ve gained some time to act freely.

Ten seconds until collision.

The Paladins at the front clearly twitched their eyebrows as they saw me.

[Bai-shin, Yara, and Rupu. So these are the Blue Army.]

Hersela calmly recited their names. All three were names I hadn’t heard before. They seemed quite skilled, but the fact that I hadn’t heard of them probably meant they all died at Hersela’s hands in the original story.

“Such a vulgar outfit, you filthy half-breed!”

“Shameless wench!”

The distance had closed enough for them to see my appearance, and their voices were filled with disdain and disgust.

If I had fought any more scantily clad, they would’ve had a fit.

“Ha, vulgar and filthy? That’s you. All you know is killing, raping, and stealing.”

Three seconds left.

I gripped Durandal with both hands and unleashed all the power I had been deliberately suppressing.

Like a peacock spreading its tail, the aura of a hero burst forth. Their faces instantly paled with shock and tension.

“T-this is…!”

Did you think three Paladins could stop me? It was worth suppressing my aura to get this close.

“Go to hell together!”

The blade, filled with the Power of Feats, drew a blue trajectory across the sky.

“Gwaaaah!”

The Paladin wielding a massive axe roared fiercely, swinging it diagonally to block Durandal.

Another one rolled off his horse, and the last one yanked the reins, leaping into the air with his horse.

Two of them dodged. Quick reflexes.

The next moment, the blade clashed with the Paladin’s axe.

-Kwaaaaang!

An explosion that was hard to believe came from the clash of a longsword and a great axe. Beyond the blinding flash of light, a fountain of red blood erupted.

“Kuh…!”

The Paladin who had swung the axe—Rupu, was it?—was left holding only the handle, his eyes wide and body trembling.

In mid-air.

The lower half of his body, still sitting on the saddle, passed by me, trailing intestines.

Durandal, imbued with transcendent feats, had shattered his axe, broken through his armor, and sliced him in half like cutting a cake.

He must’ve been confident in his strength to charge head-on, but in the end, he was still below Ryu-rik.

Even with the added strength of his horse, his strike was on par with a hero’s, but his opponent was just too strong.

“Rupu…!”

“Good heavens, a Paladin taken down in one strike…!”

The two Paladins who had dodged stared in horror as Rupu’s body spun in the air, spraying blood.

“Don’t be surprised yet!”

I lightly scratched Cascador’s side while pulling the reins upward. Understanding my intent, the unicorn kicked off its knees and leaped into the air.

“Huh…!”

The Paladin, Yara, who had jumped into the air with his horse to dodge my slash, let out a desperate groan.

The horsemanship of infusing one’s feats into a horse, turning an ordinary steed into a divine beast.

I used to struggle to counter this, but now it’s nothing. The mount I’m riding isn’t a horse—it’s a unicorn. A spirit beast that surpasses even divine steeds.

If I couldn’t match their horsemanship, I just needed a better mount.

“Kihihihihin!”

With a fierce—though still horse-like—neigh, Cascador’s horn pierced the belly of the enemy’s horse like a knight’s lance.

The sound of flesh tearing. As Cascador shook its head, the horse’s belly split open, spilling its innards.

“It wasn’t just decoration?!”

Yara, who had suddenly lost his horse, panicked and raised his crescent moon blade.

He must’ve mistaken Cascador’s horn for some decorative armor. Well, it’s understandable.

A horned horse? Who could’ve imagined such a thing existed?

“Could it be… a spirit beast?!”

“Yep.”

I kicked off Cascador’s saddle and leaped towards him. His crescent moon blade thrust reflexively. I turned my head to dodge and grabbed the shaft with an icy grip. Yara, sensing death, gritted his teeth.

“Not a chance!”

As I swung Durandal towards Yara’s neck, the Paladin who had rolled away earlier, Bai-shin, threw two spears at me.

The spears, aimed at my head and waist, hummed with swirling energy.

‘Block it!’

[You should say, “Block it for me!”]

Hersela grumbled but still unleashed the Life Force Technique, sending crimson tentacles to intercept the spears. The spears’ trajectory bent sharply, flying off into the sky.

I ignored that and swung Durandal in a reverse grip towards Yara, who was slashing at me with a curved sword.

-Karddduk!

Huh?

Instead of the sound of flesh tearing, there was the screech of metal grinding.

As Durandal’s blade met the curved sword, the sword twisted in an odd trajectory, deflecting the force of my strike.

The deflected blade instead pierced the spine of Yara’s horse. It was a clean deflection, reminiscent of Valenstein.

“How about that! This much…!”

Yara, grinning triumphantly, discarded his now-blade-less sword and drew a dagger, slashing at me.

My left arm was holding his crescent moon blade, and my right hand was gripping Durandal’s hilt, which was stuck in the horse’s back. For a moment, both my arms were immobilized.

“What now.”

I leaned back sharply, dodging the dagger.

-Whoosh!

The dagger missed, cutting through the air with a sharp sound. He must’ve been trying to take advantage of my immobilized arms, but I was still much faster.

“Kuh…!”

Yara, gritting his teeth, reversed his grip on the dagger and stabbed towards my face. I tilted my head slightly and pushed my shoulder into the dagger, springing my upper body up like a coil.

-Kwakagak!

The steel dagger shattered into pieces as it struck my shoulder armor. His face twisted in despair.

“Too bad, huh?”

I grinned widely and, using the momentum of rising, headbutted him in the face.

With my forehead.

-Boooom!

His skull exploded like a watermelon. Warm, sticky liquid soaked my hair as brain matter, eyeballs, bone fragments, and teeth scattered everywhere.

[Why did you headbutt him…?]

Hersela muttered, seemingly baffled that I had used a headbutt to blow his head off.

‘You said to be brutal and shocking when fighting multiple opponents.’

It was advice Hersela herself had given. That’s why I used my head instead of my fist.

Visually, it’s much more impactful.

“Ha-shal-leurrrr!”

See? It worked.

The last remaining Paladin, Bai-shin, leaped towards me in a rage.

I threw the crescent moon blade at him, along with Yara’s corpse, which was still clutching the weapon.

“Futile!”

Bai-shin swung his spear, deflecting Yara’s corpse and using it as a springboard to leap again, thrusting his spear at me. A truly foolish move.

“How stupid.”

I kicked off the falling horse’s corpse and leaped to the side. The horse, whose belly had been torn open and spine pierced, burst into chunks of flesh, raining blood.

“Damn it…!”

Bai-shin, suddenly covered in the horse’s remains, gritted his teeth and turned his head towards me…

But I was already far away from him, and he had no means to chase me. Cascador had already been unsummoned, and the horse I had used as a stepping stone was now just chunks of meat.

All Bai-shin could do was fall to the ground in frustration.

That’s why I kept warning Damien. If you don’t have a way to fly, don’t jump.

I stretched out my right hand towards Bai-shin. His face paled as he understood what was coming.

Let’s see how he dodges this without wings or a foothold.

“Kena-”

As a fierce flame was about to burst from my outstretched palm—

“Open fire!”

“Bring down the traitorous wench!”

Hundreds of arrows and spears were shot towards me. It was like a waterfall flowing upwards.

…They’re faster than I thought. Only about twenty seconds have passed.

“Cascador!”

I resummoned the unicorn I had unsummoned earlier.

“Hihihihihin!”

With a brave neigh, Cascador materialized beneath me in mid-air. Instead of mounting it, I grabbed its neck with my left arm and used it as a shield against the incoming arrows and spears.

-Pububububuk!

Hundreds of arrows and spears embedded themselves into Cascador’s body. Even the spears thrown with full force by the warriors couldn’t penetrate its body to reach me.

As expected of a spirit beast, it’s tough.

“Kihihihihik!”

Cascador let out a pained scream as it was suddenly riddled with arrows. I thanked it for its tearful sacrifice and spewed flames mixed with Life Force Technique towards Bai-shin, who was still falling.

“Kenaz!”

A crimson flame shot out like a dragon’s breath.

“Damn it…!”

Bai-shin swung his spear, trying to shake off the flames, but how could that be possible? The flames engulfed him completely.

“Gwaaaaaah!”

With a desperate scream, the Paladin, now a ball of fire, began to melt like ice thrown into a furnace.

That makes three. Not bad for a surprise attack. I smiled with satisfaction, pondering my next move.

And then—

“Ha-shal-leurrrr!”

A chilling sensation, as if a dragon’s maw was approaching. A fierce sense of crisis shot up my spine.

[Dodge!]

As Hersela urgently warned, I was already kicking off Cascador’s side and leaping with all my strength.

-Kwaaaaang!

A deafening explosion hit my eardrums. I pressed my ringing ears and looked at the spot where I had just been.

Cascador, now a porcupine with its side torn open, flailed its legs in mid-air. That spot had been reduced to nothing in an instant!

Undoubtedly, a hero’s strike.

It was a force comparable to a full-powered slash from Durandal.